Thanksgiving in Scottsdale

Every year, the Koplans, Lindenbaums, Fitchetts and Cweibers get together for Thanksgiving.  Finding a location that can accommodate the ever-growing family can be a challenge.  This year, we met up in sunny Scottsdale, Arizona where Uncle Stevie has a huge gorgeous vacation home, complete with pool, hot-tub and plenty of outdoor seating for Thanksgiving dinner.  They are amazing hosts - fridge stocked with deli meat and a beautifully catered Thanksgiving meal.

In attendance this year were the Lindenbaums (Stevie, DeeDee, James, Katie, Casey, Jake), the Cweibers (John, Mimi, Noah, Sophie), the Fitchetts (Craig and Madeline) and the Koplan clan (Steve, Harriet, Mike, Julie, Jake, Zoe, Matthew, Bruce, Jamie, Leila, Dave, Louisa, Lily, Henry and the Koplans from Moraga, Adam, Connie, Gwen and Whitney).  That makes the total count an even 30 family members.

The cousins were so fun to watch this year, with Jake somewhere in between being one of the kids and one of the adults and Zoe the ringleader of all the younger girls.

Much time was spent in the pool, which I think may be our first poolside Thanksgiving.  Gotta love Arizona!

Jake, Matthew, Noah, Zoe, Gwen and Madeline

Gwen discovered she can "swim" by herself with a noodle

Noah, Madeline, John, Sophie, Gwen, Whitney, Connie, Lily and Matthew

Gwen in the hot tub with Lily, Matthew, Zoe, Sophie and Madeline

Zoe helping Lily and Gwen in the pool

Gwen and Sophie

Every evening, the kids had a dance party in the foyer.  Whitney loved doing her version of dancing, which is basically jumping up and down with gusto!

I love Whit's face in this picture - she loves dancing!

Thanksgiving dinner set in the back patio - I didn't take any pictures at dinner but will hopefully be able to add some that others took soon...

Dinner set up poolside

Here is the Koplan family in their Thanksgiving finest.

Top Row:  David, Lily, Henry, Louisa, Zoe, Harriet, Steve, Julie, Mike, Bruce, Leila, Jamie.
Bottom Row:  Gwen, Adam, Whitney, Matthew, Connie, Jake

And here are all the Koplan cousins - 8 and counting!

I hope I get these ages right... From the left, Henry (3), Leila (1.5), Zoe (12), Lily (5), Matthew (8), Jake (14), Gwen (3 but almost 4) and Whitney (1.5)

And pics of our family,including the ones that made our 2010 Christmas card!

Gwen grew very attached to her grandpa during this trip and they spent lots of time talking, holding hands and going up on the roof to watch the sunset.

Another perk to doing Thanksgiving in Scottsdale is that we were able to see our friends Kerry and Randy.  They just happened to live 2 miles from Stevie's house, so we stayed with them during our visit. They have a very grown up and beautiful home that they stocked with sippy cups, books, doll houses and kid essentials for our stay.  Now that's service.

Kerry and Randy are adopting a little baby boy they've named Quinten ("Q" for short) and have his baby pictures in frames around the house.  Whitney picked up one of the pictures, looked at Q and then kissed his picture.  She pointed to him and said "Di Di" (little brother in Chinese).

The Castros are our kind of people - a flatscreen in every room, even the nursery.  It was great coming home after a fun but tiring day with the family, putting the kids down and watching a couple of hours of TV with the Castros before heading to bed.

Other random pictures from the trip:

 We all had a great time - this year's trip will be hard to top!